Fluid testing of components is a widely used technique for determining whether a fluid channel internal to a component leaks fluid under high pressure. Many large and complex components or devices use pressurized fluid systems to cool larger components, for example passenger vehicle engines.
Often, high performance components use fluids which are potentially harmful to the environment so it is important that the components do not leak these fluids in normal operation. Examples of such fluids include lubricating oil and engine coolant.
Many devices and methods have been used to test whether components satisfy fluid pressure and retention requirements prior to full assembly of such components and installation into a usable device, for example the powertrain of a passenger vehicle.
In conventional fluid testing, there is often leakage internal to the component which is not important because the leaked fluid stays internal to the component and eventually pools or reverts to the main chamber of the fluid passageway as opposed to leaking to the exterior of the component and potentially the environment. Conventional testing systems have long had disadvantages wherein such non-important internal leakage could not be distinguished from important external leakage. Thus, detected harmless internal leaks were considered external important leaks leading to elevated false determinations of faulty components. This leads to higher scrap rates and increased costs of production.